


Where do we go from here?

by 3dd1eK4spbr4k



Category: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier - Fandom, IT, IT Chapter 2, Reddie - Fandom, Richie and Eddie - Fandom
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-10-30 06:30:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20810099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/3dd1eK4spbr4k/pseuds/3dd1eK4spbr4k
Summary: Eddie is sure that Richie wrote the R + E on the kissing bridge, he just has to get him to admit it.Set after the first movie and before the second. Reddie stuff, grown up and as teenagers.The story goes back and forth, every other chapter is set in Derry, Maine right after the blood oath.In the future Eddie is married to Myra but he wants to leave her, he suddenly gets the help that he needs from a stand-up comedian that seems awfully familiar.





	1. Back to the kissing bridge

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my native language, so sorry in advance for my vocabulary, misspellings and other errors.

Stan was the first one to leave after they made the blood oath. Soon after Stan left, Eddie followed, then Mike, then Richie and when Ben left only Beverly and Bill hung out. That was the last time they saw or heard from Beverly, it was somehow like she vanished after she moved to Portland. Summer would soon be over and then the school would start. The losers club didn’t really hang out much after they defeated Pennywise.

Richie wanted to go back to the arcade but somehow he didn’t feel like it. He had bad memories from before when the Losers split for the first time. When he was playing Street Fighter with Henry’s cousin and they had called him gay. He walked past the arcade trying not to think about that day, but then he remembered what he did after Henry had called him a fairy and a faggot. He had run towards the kissing bridge and carved in some letters. Richie wasn’t sure about his feelings, but that day at the arcade made him realize that maybe he had been attracted to Henry Bowers’ cousin, but as soon as he rejected him he started to think about someone else. Someone else who had always been nice to him, never made any fairy jokes but was sometimes a little too worried about diseases and infections. But Richie didn’t run because he was afraid of being gay or bisexual or whatever, he was afraid of rejection. He wanted to tell his little friend how he felt, but all he could think of was if he’d reject him. That would be the end of the world for Richie.

Richie was walking fast, he was walking towards the kissing bridge when someone called out for him.

“Hey Richie.” Eddie called when he saw his friend, but Richie didn’t notice. “Beep beep Richie.” Still no answer, until Eddie bumped into him. “Seriously, I thought you were a zombie or something, shit, you didn’t hear me?” Eddie asked.

“Oh Eddie, sorry. I have to go.” Richie said, not looking up.”

“Wait a minute, fuck. What happened. Are you alright?”

“Yeah, your mom is waiting for me.” Richie responded with a snarky tone.

“Sorry, she’s at the doctor’s. I guess she’s blowing you off man.” Eddie was so used to Richie’s mom jokes he just played along with them. “Hey man, seriously, you okay?” Eddie tried to get Richie to look at him, but Richie was afraid, all he could hear was Eddie rejecting him.

“Yeah I’m okay.” He answered, looking down.

“So where have you been? I haven’t seen you since the… uhm… the…”

“Geez. Is Bill’s stuttering contagious or something?”

“What? No, it’s just. Oh that memory, blood, holding hands, germs, Pennywise… It gives me the creeps.”

“Yeah me too.”

“That’s why you have been so distant? I haven’t seen you around since then.”

“Yeah, I guess. I was just at the arcade, kicking some ass.”

“Well, at least you got to do something fun. Since I ran out and yelled at my mom that day, she grounded me. She kept me locked in that hellhole of a house. Seriously, I had to beg her to let me go out.” Eddie said, sounding frustrated.

“When do you get rid of that cast?”

“Why? Don’t you like it?”

“Yeah, I love it. Loser, I mean… Lover?” He suddenly looked at Eddie and felt like his same old self. 

“Stupid Gretta.”

“Why the hell would you let her sign your cast?”

“I don’t know. And I’ll get rid of it soon, before school starts. Remember when you snapped my arm it into its place? Shit that hurt like a mother fucker.”

“Yeah. I’m thinking about becoming a doctor, I’ll be Richie Rich and get a handful of hot nurses to play with every day.”

“Dream on loser, all you got on your report card was C.”

Eddie had thought about becoming a doctor, but ever since the pharmacist told him the truth about his medicine and how it was placebo, he didn’t really trust doctors. Whatever he’d be when he’d grow up, he knew he wouldn’t stay in Derry. He wanted to get as far away from Derry as possible. He envied Beverly, and knew she just wanted to forget, and that’s why they didn’t bother to contact her, they wanted to give her peace.

“Excited for school?” Richie suddenly asked and seemed to become more himself than before.

“Not really, but at least I have an excuse to leave the house, and that’s something to be excited about. But I don’t want to face Henry Bowers.”

“You don’t have to worry about him.”

“What do you mean?

“The police arrested him. He apparently killed his own dad.” Richie whispered that later sentence into Eddie’s ear.

“And how do you know that?”

“How do you not know? That’s what everybody’s talking about. I don’t know if it’s true though, you know rumours.” Richie said. “They spread like infections, and some of them aren’t real.” He looked at Eddie’s fanny pack.

“Hey!” Eddie said, sounding a little rude.

“If you know these things are fake, why do you always take them and keep them on you?”

“Because, I apologized to my mom and told her I would always take that stupid medicine…” Eddie was getting kind of awkward. “You know, I just said that to make her happy. Then she actually let me go outside.”

“You know I know how to make your mom happy Eds.”

“Sure you do. She’s always saying how bad you are.” He started waving his hands in the air, mimicking his mother. “That Tozier boy is no good Eddie, don’t hang out with him. He might even be…” Eddie suddenly stopped. “Whatever, now I just try to keep her happy you know, by kind of lying to her.”

“What she doesn’t know, can’t hurt her.” Richie said.

“Yeah. Maybe.”

Richie thought about how Eddie had suddenly stopped talking, that he might be what… Did she know? How the hell would she know? She never spoke to him, never gave him the time of day, only judged him by the way he dressed and looked, once she had told Eddie in front of Richie that he was never allowed to grow his hair as long as Richie did. She knew Eddie’s hair was kind of similar to Richie’s but she always combed it and made him get regular haircuts.

Eddie suddenly realized the boys were by the kissing bridge. He wasn’t sure if he should mention it or not, they were just walking past it. Weren’t they? But why were they headed in that direction? Eddie finally got the nerves to speak, but Richie said it first.

“Would you look at that, the kissing bridge. Too bad your mom ain’t here.”

“What the fuck are we doing here Richie?”

“I don’t know, maybe you wanna do some smooching?” He asked and puckered his lips.

“Hell no Trashmouth. I’m not kissing you. Over my dead body.” Eddie covered his face with his hands.

Richie didn’t realize what he was doing. He actually wanted to kiss Eddie really badly, but that wasn’t how he’d do it. The way Eddie rejected him didn’t have any effect on him though, because like always, they were just playing.

“Hey. Have you got a knife Richie?” Eddie suddenly asked.

“Yeah, in my pocket why?”

“I don’t know, I feel like carving something. Can I have it?” He asked and reached out his hand.

“Yeah, sure.” Richie picked out the knife from his pocket and handed it to Eddie. For a brief moment, their hands touched and Richie felt something in his stomach. It was sweet, it felt like that moment lasted forever, but somehow it was over before he realized. “What are you carving?” He suddenly asked. Eddie seemed to be having a little trouble using his left hand to carve.  
“Ugh, it’s too hard.”

“I can do it for you.” Richie said and reached out his hand, hoping for another little moment of hands touching. Eddie carefully handed Richie the knife and their hands touched again. Richie watched it closely but Eddie kept looking at the bridge. “What should I carve?”

“Losers… something… Losers forever? No that’s too cliché… uhm… Just Losers I think. I want to leave a mark on this bridge you know, remembering this summer. Maybe carve in ’89 too? If that’s not too much.” Eddie said. “If there’s even room anywhere, oh here. Look.” Eddie pointed his finger just below the R + E that Richie had carved in earlier that summer.

“Yeah sure.” Richie said and started working the knife into the wood. “Maybe I should change the S into V like you did. Lovers ‘89”

“Ew gross, we’re not lovers. Except for maybe Bill and Beverly. You know they kissed right?”

“So what, kissing doesn’t mean squat, I’ve kissed so many girls just for the fun of it. Lovers goes way beyond kissing.”

Eddie wasn’t sure if Richie was lying or not. He kind of hoped he was lying. He had often joked about stuff like that, but some of it sounded truthful. Had he kissed so many girls? Richie wasn’t one of the popular kids, that was for sure. Eddie wasn’t sure if should call Richie on his bullshit or what. 

“Who are all these girls? I need names Tozier.”

“You know I never kiss and tell, except your mom. She wants you to know.”

“Fuck you dickwad, you’d never kiss my mother in a million years.” Eddie said angrily and Richie laughed. Of course he wouldn’t kiss Eddie’s mom, she was kind of scary, and not particularly pretty. He wondered where Eddie had gotten his looks from, definitely not his mother. “Are you gonna be here for ever?” Then Eddie noticed that R + E carving above where Richie was carving at that moment. He suddenly got butterflies in his stomach and saw how similar the R and E were to the LOSERS writing. He looked around and didn’t see any similarity to other R’s and E’s anywhere. This had to be Richie’s work too. But who was this E, E… Emily, Emery, Eddie… Eddie froze for a moment. No way, that couldn’t be. Not R + E, Richie + Eddie. Eddie had heard Richie talk about losing his virginity and screwing so many girls in the school, he said he was horny all the time, and he always talked about hot girls, constantly. Eddie had to find out if his mind was screwing with him or if Richie had actually made the R + E.

“What are you looking at?” Richie said snarkily as he finished his work.

“Uhm. That.” Eddie pointed at the R + E.

“Would you look at that.” Richie said, pretending he hadn’t noticed it and that he didn’t know anything about it. “Somebody has the hots for Richie, Oh I know what this is. This is Richie + Eddie’s mom. Of course.” Eddie didn’t know if Richie was being his usual self, but it seemed like he was acting a bit out of the ordinary.

“Did you carve this?” Eddie asked. “It looks an awful lot like your handwriting down here.” He pointed at the newer work.

“Handwriting? Are you shitting me Eds, everything here looks exactly the same.” Richie sounded a bit flustered.

“You didn’t answer my question.” Eddie sounded sure of himself. He knew Richie had carved that.

“No I didn’t.” Richie’s cheeks felt hot, and Eddie noticed they got a little shade of pink.

“Exactly. You didn’t answer my question. Did you do this or not?”

“Not.”

“Yeah right. You carved this, I know you did. Don’t try to lie to me.

“I… I… B-b-but…” Richie’s face was getting a dark shade of pink.

“Who’s stuttering now. See I told you, I know when you’re lying and I know when you’re telling the truth. You wrote this Richie, but that E… it sure as hell doesn’t stand for Eddie’s mom, because you know her name is Sonia.” Richie was flustered. “You’ve got the hots for someone with the letter E.”

“Yeah, a hot girl I might add.”

“Wrong again, I know you’re lying.” Richie wanted to scream, to run, to sink into the ground, he wished for Pennywise to come to abduct him, he wished for anything to not be right there at that time. “You, you got the hots for me Richie Tozier?” Eddie then added and looked a bit pink himself. Richie didn’t want another rejection but he felt so weird that he wouldn’t be able to lie himself out of this one, maybe if he just started playing he could become more himself.

“Yeah I got the hots for you man, got it baaad. Does that scare you?”

Eddie didn’t know what to say or what to do. He got Richie to admit it, but still somehow Richie screwed it up by being playful.

“No it doesn’t scare me. I always knew you liked me you dickwad, trying to play it cool by talking about those girls, man, but deep down you’re just an adorable little boy, afraid of his own feelings.” Eddie knew he had the upper hand. Yet he didn’t want to humiliate Richie in anyway, he just wanted Richie to be normal, for once.

“Fine, you got me. Okay, I’m still a virgin and I’ve never even kissed a girl. Maybe I just don’t want to. I just want to kiss y… “He stopped before he finished.

“I don’t know Richie, you’re my best friend, I’ve never seen you act like this before. I mean, I just wanted a normal reaction from you but somehow you screwed that up.”

“I’m an idiot, I’m sorry. I know, I just keep hiding who I am because it’s hard you know, to be real. I’m real now, and I just really really can’t face a rejection from you. I just want to go, leave, never see you again.”

“Do you mean that?” Eddie said and felt tears crawling up to his eyes, but he was surely enough not going to let them escape.

“No of course I want to see you again, I’m sorry. It’s just. With everything that has happened, I just want to hang with my friends, try to have a normal life since that jackass clown is gone for good, I just, I really want us to be friends, and I’ll get over my crush I swear, I just, it might take some time and I just want things to go back to normal.”

“You haven’t even asked dude.”  
“Asked what?” Richie said, a little bit confused.

“You haven’t even asked how I feel about this, if I like you too.”

“I know you don’t”

“How do you know if you never even asked?”

“I- I’m sorry. I just thought…” Eddie cut him off.

“I know, you just thought. But you’re still not asking me the question.”

“Uhm… Are you okay with this?”

“With what?”

“Me being in lo… me having a crush on you.”

“Yes, of course I am.”

“Really?” Richie didn’t want to get his hopes up and that’s why he avoided the questioned that both of them wanted him to ask.

“Yes. You can have a crush on whoever you want to. It’s fine by me. And I’m not one of those assholes who thinks gays are disgusting. Even though my mom has told me that a thousand times, I don’t. Somehow it seems natural.” Eddie seemed so fine, so cool, relaxed, Richie wished he was as relaxed as Eddie.

“But… uhm… I don’t know. Do you… uhm…” He was stuttering, trying to get his word out. Wow, how much he sounded like Bill. “Do you feel the same?”

“Maybe.” Eddie added. “I don’t know, I haven’t really thought about it, maybe once or twice, I don’t know… I love you as a friend, but I don’t know, I don’t know…” He was trying to act cool, this was the first time ever that Eddie was relaxed and acting normal while Richie was the flustered one. He had no idea he had it in him.

Richie needed to grow some balls here. Eddie was playing with him. He was enjoying being the relaxed one, acting all nonchalant and everything so Richie knew he had to man up.

“I know how you’ll know.” He cupped his hands on Eddie’s cheek and pulled him a little closer. He didn’t want to force him into anything so he asked calmly. “Do you want to know?” Eddie nodded and looked deep into his eyes. Richie then closed his eyes and Eddie did the same. The moved slowly towards each other pressing their lips together for what seemed like forever. They both slowly backed out of the kiss and opened their eyes and their eyes met. Richie let go of Eddie’s face and held his hands instead.

“Do you feel the same?”

Eddie knew it. He had known it for a long time. But that kiss, that kiss was everything. He felt braver and more sure of himself and looked at his hands, Richie still holding them. He then looked up and whispered. “Yes.”


	2. A spontaneous decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just saw the movie three times and started reading so many fanfics. Just thought I'd try to write one myself.

2016

Eddie was bored at work. He was bored at home. He was constantly searching for his will to live. Was he depressed? He didn’t know. He was probably already taking some antidepressants and just didn’t know that. Why was he so bored, sad, lonely? He didn’t know. He usually loved his work, being a risk analyst sure didn’t sound fun, but he had some fun. Sometimes. Why did he choose this job though, didn’t he have a dream job as a kid? He didn’t remember much from his childhood, but at one point, didn’t he want to become a doctor or a veterinarian or something. Anyways he couldn’t remember what had led to the choice of this job. Whatever, his co-workers were great and the job paid the bills. Although he kind of felt annoying sometimes that he had to be the sole provider for his family. Not that he had any kids, it’s just that his wife wanted to be a home maker and had quit her job the day after he proposed, or did he propose? He felt like he should remember those things. Was this the doing of his medicine? He then remembered that infamous proposal. Myra, his wife, had been begging him for months to pop the question so he just went down on one knee one day and asked her to marry him. She might just as well have proposed to him though, the way she nagged on and on about a big wedding and a white dress. Oh, the white dress, she bought it the minute after he proposed and it fit perfectly then. But after she quit her job and starting spending all her time at home, she kind of started to gain weight, she gained more and more weight until she realized she wouldn’t be able to fit in the dress. She tried to have it altered but it was too late. The wedding day was closing in and she had doubled her weight when she bought the dress. Every day she started to look more and more like Eddie’s mother, Sonia. At first he didn’t notice it, but she became so clingy and wanted him to skip work to spend the day with her. He had once politely said that if he’d quit his job as well, they wouldn’t be able to afford anything, not their cosy apartment, not the wedding, nothing. She then burst into tears as if he had insulted her.

Eddie was nice, he was kind, he didn’t want to hurt Myra. But he was starting to feel claustrophobic in this relationship. She called him on his way to work, in his lunch break and on the way home, just to check in. If he didn’t answer she would just call again and again, or cry when he came home, saying she was worried.

Eddie longed for something else, something more. He just didn’t have it in him to ask for a divorce, where would Myra go? Would she try to kill him if he told her that. No, Eddie shook his head and realized that Myra had never shown an angry side of herself, she was just always sad and worried.

He was driving home when these thoughts appeared. He then drove by some club he had never noticed before. Outside was a sign saying: Richie Tozier one night only, tickets available. Eddie thought about that name, had he heard it before, he didn’t normally watch stand-up comedy, his wife didn’t like it. Suddenly and out of nowehere he saw a great parking spot near the club and decided to check it out. Live spontaneously for once. He parked his car, grabbed his inhaler and wallet and left the car. He walked towards the club and by the door he heard them saying it was full. Of course, that was just his luck, when he finally decided to do something fun, explore something new, it was right out of his reach. He walked towards the doorman and asked politely. “Is it sold out?”

“How many?” The doorman asked.

“Uh, just me sir.”

“No, we’ve got some seats inbetween. The tickets are 50$.”

“Fifty dollars? Is he like famous or something?”

“Yes, he is indeed. Trust me. It will be worth it.”

“Fine.” He picked up his wallet and took a neat 50$ bill out and handed it to the doorman.

“Right this way sir.”

Eddie had no idea what he was getting himself into. Paying 50 dollars to see some lame ass guy he’d never even heard of before. He found a seat and felt like a complete loser being there all by himself. Maybe he should just go, this was a dumb idea anyways. But then the lights were out and an announcement was made. “Give it up for Richie Tozier”

Everybody started clapping and screaming. Eddie didn’t scream, but he clapped. Oh no, he didn’t have a hand sanitizer with him, he’d left it in his car. Suddenly everything looked so dirty and he desperately reached out for his inhaler.

“So I was with this girl one night and having a really good time, you know what I mean.” Richie started saying into the microphone. “When she started asking me to talk dirty to her. I got nervous, you know fellas… It happens to the best of us. I said, yeah. Have you ever heard of a staph infection?” He made a weird hand gesture that made Eddie laugh. Normally he wouldn’t laugh at a thing as disgusting as staph infection, but the way this guy said it, he made it funny. “You know what she did, she crawled towards me in slow motion and said, oh I’ll show you a staph infection. Then out of the blue she kissed me, I was like oh man, did I just really get laid by saying staph infection. That is some weird shit man.” Eddie laughed. This guy was pretty funny. “Then I started rambling on about listeria, hangnails aids and whatever. Seriously, this girl, she was so weird man, just digging it.” Eddie would definitely not think of this as bedroom talk, but it sounded like something he had said before, but as a worried friend, not to get into anyone’s pants. The rest of Richie’s jokes weren’t as funny. It was like at the beginning he was being true to himself but the rest of the jokes sounded like somebody else’s words. Even though Eddie didn’t know him, he just figured that he was saying something someone else told him to. The crowd seemed to be enjoying it though, and Eddie smiled. Wow, for the first time in a long while he was actually enjoying himself and smiling, he hadn’t smiled in so long.

When the show ended, some crazy fangirls seemed to be trying to get backstage. One of them was even flinging her bra. He bet that guy would definitely not be going home alone that night. As Eddie stepped out of the club he heard something in the alley. He decided to check it out, no one was near him so he proceeded with care. “Hello? Anyone there?” He asked, kind of not expecting an answer, it was probably just a cat or a bum or something. Eddie decided to head back to his car, avoiding that dirty alley.

“Hey man, you gotta help me. Are you alone?” That voice sounded familiar.

“Uhm, yes. Who is there?”

“Just, okay, there are some crazy girls after me right now and I just need to get out of here. Do you have a car?”

“Uhm… Yes.” Eddie was starting to get scared and wanted to go. But if there was someone in trouble, he should help him, right?

“Is it near?”

“Yes.”

“Fuck, then run.” The man appeared from the alley, grabbed Eddie and started running. “Where is it?” This wasn’t a bum or a crazy person, this was none other than Richie Tozier the stand-up comedian. “Run man, run.” All of a sudden, a whole bunch of girls came out of the alley and were looking around. Then one of them yelled. “There he is.”

“Get in man.” Eddie said and unlocked his car. He backed out of the parking space and drove off in a hurry. “Shit, what was that?”

“I don’t know, bunch of crazy girls that I’ve probably already banged and talked about in my routine. Shit. Were you watching?”

“Yes.”

“Alone?”  
“Yeah. I was just driving by and I saw the sign, I’ve never seen you before.”

“Uhm okay. You look strangely familiar though. Are you sure we haven’t met?”

“I don’t know, maybe through my job or something?”

“What do you do?”

“Oh I am a risk analyst.”

“And?”

“So I work for a really big insurance and then…” Richie suddenly started snoring.

“Fuck you dude, fuck you.”

“Was this job invented before fun?”

“So obviously we didn’t meet through my job.” Eddie said. “So where am I dropping you off man? You know, I could just leave you here, you jackass.”

“Sorry sorry, I’ll be polite, I swear. Uhm… to my hotel I guess.”

“Which is where exactly?”

“Just keep going my man. I’ll tell you when to turn.”

“It’s Eddie by the way.”

“What is?”

“My name. Eddie, Eddie Kaspbrak.”

“Okay Eds. Tonight you are my hero, like seriously, these girls man.”

“I bet you always take one home though, the girl that liked it when you said staph infection.”

“Nah man, to tell you the truth, it’s all just an act. I don’t even write my own material.”

“I knew it, I fucking knew it.”

“Yeah, sometimes, to get me going I open up with something I come up with myself, it was a lie though. Seriously. I can’t believe anyone bought that.”

“Where did that idea even come from?”

“I don’t know, I just remember somebody doing that hand thing and saying staph infection, and I thought it was so funny I made it into a weird story. Turn left here.” Richie pointed.

“Oh yes, sorry. Really? You thought staph infection was funny?”

“No of course not, just that phrase, it’s stuck in my head for some reason. I don’t know.”

“Yeah, it sounds familiar though, sure you didn’t steal it from some show?”

“Holy shit? What if I did, man, I’m going to be so screwed if I did.”

Richie continued to tell Eddie where to turn, but Eddie just felt like he was driving in circles. They kept up some small talk while he drove but Eddie was so far away from the club and his house, he was starting to get freaked out.

“Why don’t you just tell me where we’re going? I’ve got a GPS system in this car.”

“Relax dude, we’re almost there.”

“Where?”

Richie stayed silent and looked around like he was completely lost. Eddie was starting to freak out and got out his inhaler.

“Okay sorry man, we’re totally lost. I don’t remember the address of the hotel, and I kind of left my phone with my manager.”

“Dude, what the hell?”

“Sorry… We could just call my manager and he’ll tell me and meet us there.”  
“What’s his number?”

“Fuck.”

“You don’t remember do you?”

“Who the fuck remembers phone numbers, like you’ve got them in your phone already.”

“How do we find his number?”

“I don’t know man.” Richie removed his classes and started cleaning them with his shirt. Eddie knew they wouldn’t get very clean by that method because that shirt seemed even dirtier than his glasses.

“Do you know any phone numbers?”

“My own. Constantly giving it out to girls, you gotta remember your own number.”

“Then we can just call your cell and your manager will answer.”

“That’s a great idea man.” Richie pinched his cheeks and Eddie opened the Bluetooth caller in his car. Richie put in the numbers and started calling. The phone rang but there was no answer. “Crap dude, pick up.” Richie was starting to get nervous and Eddie parked the car.

“Just call again.”

“I don’t think he’ll pick up.”

“Doesn’t he know you’re missing”

“Crap dude, you’re right. Ok. Calling him again.”

They waited and hoped somebody would answer. When they thought the line went dead someboy answered. “Hello, Richie’s phone. Who’s this?”

“Oh hey dude. It’s me, Richie. Yeah, sorry about ditching you in the club, these girls were feisty man.”

“Where are you?”  
“Oh I’m with a friend, don’t worry. It’s just, I don’t remember where the hotel is. Could you give me the address and then meet me there?”

“Yeah sure.”

Eddie heard the address and knew exactly where this hotel was, it wasn’t actually that far from Eddie’s apartment. 

“Well Eddie Spaghetti. Do you know where this is?”

“Yes, it’s actually not far from my home.”

“Is that an invite?”

“Is what an invite?”

“You know if you want me to stay at your house, all you gotta do is ask.”

“No, what? The fuck dude. It’s just that I know where it is. I actually have to get home.”

Suddenly the phone rang and it said Myra on the screen.

“Myra? Who’s that? Oh, is that your girlfriend?”

Richie answered the phone and made his voice sound girly.

“Oh hello Myra, this is Julia. Eddie is a little busy right now sucking my tits. He’ll call you later.” Then he hung up

Eddie froze and didn’t utter a damn word. Oh shit, Myra was probably crying and would call again soon.

“What the FUCK was that man?” Eddie asked and hit the brakes so hard that Richie jumped in his seat.

“Just a little prank.”

“Oh fuck, I’m in deep shit now. She’s gonna cry, and beg and get all hysterical when I get home. Fuck, that was not what I needed man.”

“She sounds a little freaky.”

“Yeah she is, okay. She’s fucking weird and always up in my ass about something. She’s hysterical and super annoying and fuck, I just want to leave her.”

“She’s in your ass all the time, Kaspbrak my man, I didn’t know you liked it in the ass.”

“Fuck you faggot, you know what I mean.”

“Just trying to light the mood, no need for name calling.”

“I don’t even want to go home right now.”

“Then don’t.”

“What?”

“Just come with me. You are my hero after all, you can stay with me in my hotel room, or I’ll pay for one for you. The least I can do man.”

“You know what, you’re right. I’ve had enough. I’m dumping her sorry ass right now.”

“Over the phone?”

“Yeah, why the hell not?”

“She’s going to burn your stuff man. Just relax, I’ll go with you and make sure you don’t get sucked into her drama alright? I feel like she did a number on you man.”

“Yes she did.”

Then the call came. Of course she was crying. Eddie tried to calm her down by saying his friend was just joking, there was no other girl.

“Hey ma’am, it’s Richie, Eddie’s friend. Look, I was just messing with you.”

“Eddie come home. You don’t need friends like him. You’ve got me. You don’t need anyone else baby, just come home.”

“Fine, I’ll be there soon, but we need to talk Myra. Seriously.”

“Talk about what honey? Oh no, is this Richie saying something to you? You know better than to listen to idiots like him.” Myra kept rambling on and Eddie mouthed out sorry. When he finally hung up, they were nearly there.

“She is a case. Like where did you meet her? A mental hospital?”

“No, I don’t know. She was working at this coffee shop that I went to, and then she started giving me free coffee and wrote her number on my cup. Trust me, it sounds so normal, and everyone thinks we’re so happy, but we’re not. At least I’m not. Please dude, you’ve gotta help me. She’s gonna start crying and I won’t be able to stand up to her.”

“Don’t worry Eds. I’ve got your back.” Richie said and placed his hand on Eddie’s shoulder as they drove up to Eddie’s apartment building.

“Don’t call me Eds.”


	3. Time goes by

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie and Richie kind of go their separate ways after the kiss on the bridge, until almost two years later when it happens again at a high school party.

After the kiss on the bridge, Eddie and Richie just kind of pretended that nothing had happened. They went on with their lives as they had and when school started, it seemed like it hadn’t even happened. They were kind of just too young to understand these feelings. They kept behaving just like they had always done, except, there was more affection between them. Even a year passed and they didn’t kiss or behave like a couple in any way. It wasn’t until they were fourteen and starting high school when everything seemed to change. They guys hit their growth spur, except Eddie, who was always the shortest one in their group of friends, he still looked like he should be in middle school. When they started high school it was like they found new friends to hang out with. Mike and Ben were all about academics and joined all sorts of study groups. Bill joined the baseball team and Stan and Eddie made friends with a couple of girls. Richie felt all alone when he sat down in the cafeteria and realized the losers were a thing of the past. Mike and Ben were hanging with the nerds, Bill with the jocks and Stan and Eddie with the artsy girls. Richie felt like he didn’t fit in until he started going to drama club. He made new friends there and hardly talked to the other losers.

The fall passed rather quickly and then came spring time. One of Richie’s friends was throwing a party, nothing wild of course but his parents would be out and he wanted to have a little birthday celebration. He invited Richie of course but he also invited Eddie and Stan, since he knew their friends. When Richie spotted Eddie across the room he immediately got up and started talking to him.

“Spaghetti man, how are you doing?”

“Still with the nicknames I see?”

“Of course, and Staniel my man-as-well. What’s up guys?”

“Nothing much.”

“Wow, I’ll just go fuck myself then.” He whistled and walked back to the couch he was sitting on before.

Eddie and Stan looked at each other, not knowing what to do. They had all been best friends for so long, but come high school, and it’s like they didn’t know how to communicate anymore.

“Uhm Stan, there is something I never told you.” Eddie said, looking down.

“What?”

“Remember the summer, after we defeated IT?”

“Don’t remind me.”

“After, something happened between me and Richie. He kind of confessed his love to me, and uh, we kissed.”

“Dude.”

“I know, and now I can barely look at the guy. I feel so guilty.”

“Did anything else happen?”

“No, not really. We never talked about it after, but we somehow both confessed our love and what. I don’t know. We were so young.”

“A lot has changed in two years.”

“I guess. Well, I don’t think Richie has changed.”

“Probably not.”

“Do you think we should talk to h…” Eddie was cut off by Jane.

“Look at you guys. You sure clean up nice.” She kissed them both on the cheek and put her arms over their shoulders. “Who are we looking at?”

“Uhm, no-one.” Eddie said quickly.

“Come on Eds, you’ve got to find a girl. We’re playing seven minutes in heaven later.”

“What? Uh gross. I’m not kissing a stranger in a closet. She could have been kissing someone else and spread germs man, or some disease, I haven’t had all my shots updated…”

“Relax dude, but if you don’t play, everyone will think you’re gay.” Jane said and walked away.

“That’s true, Eddie.”

“Fine be on her side. Who are you going to kiss?”

“I don’t think it’s up to me, we’ll spin the bottle or draw names or something.”

“What if I have to make out with Claire, you know, she’s got braces, I… I…”

“Chill out dude. I’m messing with you. I’m not going to kiss anyone.”  
“Then… won’t they think you’re gay?”

“Nope. Not if I lie.”

“Lie about what, lie about what?” Eddie was getting so tense, he wanted to grab his inhaler, but he hadn’t brought it to the party.

“If you go into the closet, you can just talk to the girl and you’ll agree what you’ll say to the group. I don’t think anyone actually kiss. You never get the person you wanted to and you just end up standing there awkwardly for seven minutes.”

“Oh, okay. But…”

“Don’t sweat it dude. I’m pretty sure it’s all bullshit.”

It was not often that Stan sweared or let out any curse words. Eddie relaxed a little but he kind of wanted to go home. This was so weird. His cheeks were red ad he felt like everybody was just staring at him. He looked around and saw that nobody was actually looking at him, except for Richie. Richie looked away the minute Eddie met his eyes though. Maybe Eddie should go and apologize.

“I’m gonna say hello to Patty.” Stan said and left Eddie all alone.

Richie made his way back to Eddie. He held a bowl full of chips and asked Eddie if he wanted some.

“No thank you. You know how many people have touched this, some of them probably didn’t even wash their hands, and you know, they put their hands in the bowl, then their mouth and then again in the bowl, I- I could get herpes, I-I… or…” Eddie rambled until Richie cut him off.

“Staph infection?”

“What?”

“Don’t you remember? When we went to the sewers and you didn’t want to come in, you said it was grey water or whatever, then you said we would get staph infection?”

“I don’t…”

Then Richie tried to act out what had happened and Eddie let out a tiny laugh.

“I don’t think you can actually get staph infection from chips, but whatever. I’m not eating this.”

“Then I’ll grab a fresh bag, just for you.”

“Why would you do that?”

“I don’t know, say I’m sorry, can we maybe become friends again?”

Eddie felt confused, had Richie done something he needed to apologize for. Eddie didn’t recall. They just had drifted apart, he didn’t even talk to Bill these days and he felt like he hadn’t heard from Ben in over a year.

“You don’t have to apologize, I was being an asshole before. I just, I forgot okay?”

“You forgot?”

Eddie leaned in to whisper to Richie’s ear. “I forgot about the kiss”

“Oh yeah, me too dude. Don’t worry.”

“I’d like to hang out with you again, if we could like, actually forget about that day by the bridge”

“Already forgotten.”

The boys talked to each other for a while until some girl yelled out she wanted to play a game because this party was boring. Eddie was actually having a great time. He didn’t want to play a game, and then he remembered, oh fuck, he didn’t want to play seven minutes in heaven. For him that would be seven minutes in hell. Some guy suggested truth or dare, another one spin the bottle… All of these games scared the crap out of Eddie. He blushed so easily and he would panic in a second if he had to answer a stupid question.

Then Richie suddenly yelled out that these games were stupid. His friend didn’t agree and said he was just afraid of kissing somebody.

“Oh I’ll come and kiss you, you little turd.” He made kissing noises and ran towards his friend. “Suddenly not so brave man, what if you spin the bottle and it lands on a dude, you gonna kiss him?”

“No way. I’m not a fairy.” He responded quickly. “Let’s just say you can spin again if it points to the same sex.”

Then some girl came forward and joined the argument.

“Like hell, I’d rather kiss a girl than you Patrick” she said flipping him off.

Richie got an empty glass coke bottle and swung his keys towards it to get silence. “So, if you want to play spin the bottle the rules are the following. Numero uno. You have to kiss the person the bottle points at. Numero dos. If you don’t want to, you have to do a dare that does not involve kissing. Numero quadro. The one who doesn’t get a kiss, gets to pick the dare. Numero cinco. If the dare is deemed too crude by the rest of the players, the one who chose the dare has to do it himself. Capiché?” Richie’s Spanish accent, was not so good.

“You forgot number three idiot.” A boy from Richie’s class yelled.

Richie started counting his fingers in Spanish. First he pressed down his thumb, then the pointing finger, skipping his middle finger and pointing it towards the boy who called him an idiot.  
“Who’s the idiot now?” Everybody laughed and Eddie could see Richie enjoying himself. He still wasn’t sure if he wanted to play. But the kids all gathered around and suddenly he seemed to be the only one who wasn’t a part of the game. He looked around and Richie moved, making a space between him and Jane for Eddie to sit. He waved him over and Eddie decided to play.

“I’ll spin the bottle and the one it points at will unfortunately miss the opportunity to kiss this handsome fellow.” He points the bottle at himself. “But gets to be the first one to spin.”

Everyone agreed and the game started. Thankfully there were so many kids playing that Eddie hoped the bottle wouldn’t point at him. Stan had two turns and first he got to kiss Patty and then the bottle pointed at Richie.

“No offense dude, but I don’t want to kiss you.” Stan said.

“Fine. Then I get to pick a dare… Let’s see. You can avoid kissing me, if you call your mom, pretending to be drunk off your ass. If you’re not convincing…” Richie pressed his lips together and made kissing noises. “You know what you’re in for.”

Stan agreed but before he made the call, he had to show the others how he would do it. Then he stood up and walked to the phone. Dialled his number and his dad answered. He whispered: “It’s my dad, what do I do?”

“Ooooh, your dad. Even better. Do it for him.”

“Uh, hello dad. This is Staniel, Stansted, Stan… I- I just wanted to say how much I love you dad.” Stan’s impression was pretty good. “I won’t be able to make it to church tomorrow, I am druuuuunk. Wheee.” Everybody cheered, until Stan’s dad started yelling through the phone. Stan seemed scared. “Can I tell him it was a dare? Please Richie, he’ll call the cops on us.”

“Oh shit, yeah dude. Tell him.”

“I’m sorry dad, we were playing a game and it was a dare. No dad. No dad. No I haven’t been drinking. Yes father. Alright then. Bye.” Stan hung up and everybody stared at him in silence. “So… I have to go home now, because my dad thinks I’ve had alcohol, so great. Bye.” Stan felt awkward and picked up his jacket.

“Sorry dude, you should have just kissed me.” Richie said, and everyone agreed. Richie had clean teeth, he was kind of handsome and that dare had seemed fair. Stan flipped him off and walked out. But there was a smile on his face and he didn’t seem to disappointed to be leaving so early.

“MY TURN!” Richie yelled and grabbed the bottle. He spun it so hard that it accidentally hit a boy in the knee and the spout pointed at a girl who seemed very eager to kiss Richie. “Well… I don’t really think this is fair, you were the one who made the spout point to Sarah, not me. So if you want to kiss her, be my guest.” Sarah and the boy looked confused. Sarah, wasn’t as eager to kiss him as she was to kiss Richie. “Well Colin. Are you going to kiss her or am I spinning again?” Sarah, was easily one of the prettiest girls in their class but Colin on the other hand, was not as handsome as Richie.  
“Spin again.” Sarah said. Trying to avoid the embarrassment. She didn’t want to argue that she and Richie should kiss, because then they’d know she had a thing for the class clown.

“You heard her.” Richie reached for the bottle and Eddie whispered to him.

“Why the fuck wouldn’t you kiss her? Did you see how she looked at you?” Richie just pressed his finger against his lips and shushed.

“Here we go again.” He spun the bottle, and it never seemed to stop until it finally did and pointed at Eddie.

“So which is it Eduardo? A kiss or a dare?”

Eddie looked around the room. He started feeling nervous and felt like he was about to have a panic attack until he looked at Richie. His beautiful brown eyes were staring at him, and he suddenly felt at ease.

“It doesn’t make me a fag for kissing an old friend, right?”

“Ew gross, I pick a dare.” Richie then yelled.

Eddie’s heart stopped. So this was his plan then, to humiliate Eddie in front of everybody. Some of the kids started laughing. Eddie didn’t know what to do. He was frozen. He wanted to punch Richie. Was he mad at Eddie? Why would he do this. Pretending to be all into him and then reject him in front of everybody. This wasn’t the same Richie that Eddie had kissed on the bridge, two years prior.

“I’m kidding.” Richie then said. Waiting for a response from Eddie. He regretted this joke the moment he’d said it, especially after the kids started laughing. He shouldn’t have said that. Eddie was all red in the face so Richie just grabbed his face and pressed his lips against Eddie. The kiss lasted a little longer than it should have but Richie needed Eddie to know he was sorry. “See, it’s no big deal kissing a friend. Eddie you want to have a go?”

Eddie was still embarrassed but he took a deep breath and spun the bottle. Maybe it was destiny, Eddie sure didn’t know. But the bottle pointed to Richie.

“You want to go again lover-boy?” Richie asked.

“oh come on, are there no rules against kissing the same person twice?” Eddie asked.

“Nope. Unless you want me to dare you to call your mom and do the same thing Stan did, I think you ought to kiss me again.”

“Fine.” Eddie said and kissed Richie again, just a short one though. He didn’t want everybody to know that he actually enjoyed kissing Richie. “Okay I’m out. Not kissing Richie again.”

“I think I might be cursed. I’ll call it quits to. Here Jane. You can have my turn.” Richie stood up and followed Eddie to the couch.

The game went on as if nothing happened while Eddie and Richie just watched from the couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am more used to writing plays than stories, there for I have a hard time explaining situations and places. Well I did my best. And btw, I read all the spin-the-bottle Reddie stories I could find. I still wanted to write my own though.


	4. I was not kidnapped!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Richie helps Eddie leave Myra they get to know each other while they drink in Richie's hotel room. Somehow it feels like they already know each other, but they haven't figured out how, yet.

“I don’t think I can go in.” Eddie said when he parked his car at home. Richie still in the front seat. “She’s gonna guilt me into staying.”

“I’ll come with you and be your guardian angel like you were for me earlier tonight.”

“Thank you.”

Eddie turned the car off and locked it. He walked up the stairs slowly, while Richie told him to breathe, breathe… Eddie wanted to man up and when he opened the door he felt like he was seven foot tall. But then Myra stood up from her recliner and looked at him with her sad puppy eyes. He felt like he was getting smaller and smaller, until he felt like he was only five inches and Myra would grab him and put him in her pocket.

“Hello ma’am. I’m Richie, Richie Tozier.” He reached out his hand towards Myra but she didn’t even look at him.

“Oh Eddie bear, you’re finally home. What is he doing with you?”

“Myra!” Eddie’s voice sounded like he had inhaled helium. He cleared his voice and tried again. “Myra. I’m not happy.”

“I know baby. I’ll take care of you.”

“No Myra. I’m going to leave you.”

“Why Eddie? Why?” She started wailing and crying, she was going to hug him but Richie stepped between them.  
“You make me unhappy. I want a divorce.”

“I’m not signing any papers.” She was not crying, she sounded angry.

“You have to and you will. This is my lawyer…” He pointed at Richie. “And I have been talking to him for some time now and this is not going to work. I’m going to grab some things and then I’ll be leaving. You can keep the apartment, but you’ll have to get a job to pay the rent. I know the divorce will take some time, but you can talk to my lawyer.” He then ran to the bedroom, got a big suitcase and started throwing things in.

“You’re not a lawyer.”

“Yes I am ma’am.”

“You’re that dumb comedian, who thinks it’s funny to mock girls he has slept with. I’ve seen you on TV. You think you can fool me?”

“Eduardo? Ándale! Let’s go.” He opened the door and Eddie came back with an over packed suitcase he couldn’t close properly. “Nice to meet you Sonia, I mean Myra. Bye.” The left in a hurry but they heard her yell behind the closed door.

“You’ll be back, you’re nothing without me.”

“Shit man, you weren’t kidding.” Richie said as they ran down the stairs.

“I know right. This is crazy.”

“Yeah but she knows who I am, so you kind of have to get an actual lawyer.”

“Sorry about that. Geez. Let’s go.”

They ran down the rest of the stairs, jumped into the car, throwing the suitcase in the back and started the car. They drove towards the hotel.

“I guess you didn’t pay for parking?”

“Nope. But there could be some parking spaces close to the hotel.”

“What if Myra finds my car and wrecks it?”

“Dude, you work for an insurance company? I’m sure you’ve got like all kinds of insurances for the car.”

“Yeah you’re right. I’ll just have to grab everything and we’ll go to your hotel room.”  
“My hotel room?”

“Yeah, that’s what you said, didn’t you?”

“Uh, yes. But I can probably change the booking, I just have a spare couch in my room, we could get one with two beds instead.”

“Nah, I can sleep on the couch. Don’t worry.”

“Okay then. My hotel room it is.”

They were still in a hurry, in case Myra was following them. After they parked the car they looked around to see if they were being followed. Eddie grabbed his suitcase, his medicine bottles and ran with Richie. He hadn’t felt a rush like this in years.

When they finally closed the door of Richie’s hotel room behind them they realised how winded they were. They sat down with their back against the door.

“Wow, I need a drink after this super weird night. What about you Eddie?”

“Hells yes.”

Neither of them stood up though. They sat down to catch their breath until there was a sudden knock on the door.

“Fuck, how did she find us?” Eddie stood up and started panicking. Richie stood up and looked through the peephole.

“Relax. It’s just my manager.” He unlocked the door and let the manager in.

“So apparently a crazy person called the police and said you kidnapped her husband.”

“Excuse me?” Eddie asked with his eyes wide open.

“You must be the husband. I think we might have to go down to the police station.”

“No way. He was not kidnapped, that woman is crazy. If we go down there, she’s going to try to guilt him into going back to her.”

There was another knock. Eddie panicked again and hid in the bathroom. They knocked again and introduced them as the police. Richie walked towards the door and looked through the peep hole to see if Myra was with them. There was no sign of her so he carefully opened.

“Yes.”

“Are you Richard Tozier?”

“Yes, Richie. Please.”

“Mr. Tozier, there was a 911 call to us, a woman claimed you kidnapped her husband.”

“I did no such thing.” He let the two officers in. “Eddie, please come out here and explain to the cops why you’re here.”

Eddie came out from hiding and saw the police officers. He looked around to see if Myra was with them.

“Are you Edward Kaspark?”

“Kaspbrak.”

“Pardon me. Edward Kaspbrak?”

“Yes.”

“And is your wife, Myra Kaspbrak?”

“Yes.”

“Why did she call us, saying you were kidnapped?”

“The thing is, she is kind of crazy. I tried to explain to her that I wanted a divorce, but she wouldn’t hear of it, so I ran. With him, he did not kidnap me. I’m here with my own free will.”

“She said you were under the influence and weren’t thinking rationally.”

“YEAH! SHE’S THE ONE NOT THINKING RATIONALLY!” Eddie yelled, Richie grabbed him and tried to calm him down. “I was going crazy in that apartment with her, crazy. I just wanted to be free. There is no way I am seeing her again.”

“We’ll tell her, that you’re here and that you’re safe and sound.”

“NO! DON’T TELL HER WHERE I AM!! SHE’LL KIDNAP ME!!!!”

“Calm down Eddie.” Richie said, holding his arm so he wouldn’t attack the police officers.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Just, you can’t tell her where I am.”

“Okay. But we’ll tell her that you are safe. And if she calls again with the same claim I’ll tell the 911 operator it’s a false alarm.”

“Thank you. Thank you.” He ripped himself free and hugged the police officers. Tears filling his eyes. He thanked them and they left. Richie ran towards Eddie and hugged him as Eddie cried on his shoulder. Richie’s manager handed Richie his phone and left quietly.

“So… Eds. Where do we go from here?”

Eddie wiped his tears away, sniffed twice and then said. “To the bar!”

“Oh Eds, we don’t have to go to the bar. The bar is right here.” Richie said and pointed at the mini fridge.

“Do you know how much one tiny bottle costs?”

“Don’t worry, you don’t have to pay a dime.”

“Fine.”

Richie emptied out the mini-fridge and put the bottles on the bed.

“Pick your poison.”

Eddie didn’t even look, just picked up a mini bottle and swallowed down the liquid. He then did the same with another one, and then another one, and he was reaching for his fourth bottle when Richie suddenly said: “Relax there, at least let me catch up.” Richie then did the same and not much later they had emptied every single bottle and there wasn’t a drop left. Since they downed the alcohol a little too fast they didn’t feel anything until they felt really drunk.

“Oh my god, this was exactly what I needed.” Eddie said, lying flat on the bed.

“Now we just wait for the other shoe to drop.” Richie responded and lied down beside Eddie.

“Yeah.” Eddie said, kicking off his shoes. “Your turn.”

“That’s not exactly what I meant but okay.” Richie also kicked off his shoes. “If we fall asleep right now, we’ll have a major hangover tomorrow.”

“Who cares. It’s probably not worse than what we endured tonight.”

“Well, I’d rather like to get to know you though.” Richie said and sat up. “We could also get more drinks and play a game.”

“That sounds interesting.” Eddie said, grabbing the phone, dialling room service. “Yes, we’d like some more bottles for the mini fridge, we seem to have emptied ours.” He waited for a reply. “Thank you.” Eddie hung up and sat up straight, trying to keep his eyes open. “Shit Richie, I think I need a glass of water first.” He tried to stand up, but fell down on his knees. He put his hand on the bed and picked himself up while Richie laughed. “Yeah, just you wait my friend. For this, I won’t be giving you a glass of water.”

Eddie went to the mini fridge and found a bottle of water. He poured it into a glass and chugged it all down. He then poured another glass, spilling some on the floor but drank what managed to get into the glass. He wiped his mouth and walked towards the bed where he sat down.

“So. What game should we play?”

“Never have I ever?” Richie replied.

“It sure beats spin the bottle.”

“Indeed it does.” Richie replied with a British accent “But maybe we should play it while drinking some water first.”

“A good idea from Mr. Tozier.”

Eddie stood up and got the rest of the water bottles. “I think I have to use the bathroom first”

“If you puke on the floor, you have to call housekeeping yourself.”

“I’m not going to puke, I just have to take a piss”

While Eddie was in the bathroom, Richie chugged down the water and felt better immediately.

“So. You go first.” Eddie said as he sat down.

“Never have I ever been married.”

“Well, you know I have, so cheers.” Eddie took a sip of water. “So I’m guessing, you haven’t been.”

“Nope. I guess I just didn’t find the right person or something.”

“Well, time to sober up my friend. Never have I ever had a one night stand with a chick.” Eddie took a sip of water, but Richie didn’t. “What? Dude, now you’re tripping. You’re supposed to drink if you have done it.

“Well, I haven’t.”

“Well, then say something you have done.”

“I’ve never kissed a guy.”

Eddie thought about it for a minute. He wasn’t sure if he had kissed a guy. But then he remembered something. “Does it count if it happened while playing spin the bottle?”

“Yeah dude.” Then they both took a sip.

“Okay I’m sobering up, if we’re going to do this for real, I’ll need more alcohol.”

“Let’s just play two truths, one lie instead.”

“Okay, you go first.” Eddie said and emptied the water bottle while thinking of what he’d say.

“I grew up in a small town in Maine, I lost my virginity when I was 16 and I’m terrified of clowns.” Richie said.

“What? I grew up in a small town in Maine and I am terrified of clowns. So I think both of these facts could be true. I’m guessing, you didn’t lose your virginity at 16.”

“Ding ding, bingo to the drunk guy on the bed.”

“Hey. I’m not drunk.”

“Oh, then I guess the bingo is mine then.” Richie laughed but Eddie rolled his eyes at him. “Your turn.”

“Fine. Okay. I can put my feet behind my head, I take bunch of medicine that I don’t need and I was bullied in high school.”

“Heavy stuff. Okay, if you can put your feet behind your head, I’m going to need proof. I saw all the medicine in your bag, so I’m kind of hoping you don’t actually need to take them. Because there was a lot. I don’t know if you were bullied though, but you are rather short, so you would have been an easy target.

“I’m not short, I’m 5’7 and that’s like, above average.”

“Okay definitely bullied in high school.”

“I’m guessing the first one is a lie.”

“Yeah dude. I’m super stiff. I was flexible as a child though, I could to the splits, hand springs and even put my feet behind my head. But now, forget it.”

“I dare you…” Richie said, pressing his hand on his forehead, to try to do the splits.”

“Well. I’m not a pussy.” He stood up and stretched a little before he tried to press his feet in opposite directions. He was very careful, until there was a huge rip in his pants and he fell down on the floor sideways, bursting with laughter. Richie laughed so hard he fell down on the floor. But then they both stood up carefully, still laughing.

“You get A for effort, but F for ripping your pants.”

“I guess these are ruined.” He ripped off his belt and pulled his pants down. Richie couldn’t help himself and stared at Eddie while he undressed. He was wearing white boxer briefs, they were tight and suddenly Richie felt his own pants tightening a little. Eddie threw his pants in the trashcan and was about to open up his suitcase when there was a knock on the door. “Room service.” was called out from the hall. Eddie was about to open the door when Richie called at him “Dude, you’re not wearing any pants.” He then got up himself and opened the door, slowly and not all the way. The man in the hallway handed Richie some liquor bottles and Richie thanked him, closing the door after he’d taken them. “Are you going to find some pants or are you staying like this?”

“Why? You like it?”

Even though Eddie had drunk two full water bottles he was still a little tipsy or even drunk. At least he felt more confident. Richie laughed but didn’t answer, he was afraid Eddie could see through his lies. He sat down on the bed, still wearing jeans, a t-shirt and a shirt, but he took of his leather jacket and threw it on the floor. Eddie then picked up pyjama bottoms and put them on. He sat down on the bed beside Richie again and they just started talking. First they talked about their youth, and how they didn’t really remember anything, and then about their lives in college and all the way until the night they met. They clearly shared a bond and they both felt it.

“I thought you said you don’t remember anything from your childhood?” Richie then said.

“Well, I didn’t really.”

“How do you know you were bullied in high school then?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t really think of it until I said it. It just came back suddenly. Man, it was rough. There was this girl who started bullying me at the end of my freshman year. After that I just wanted to get the hell out of town and I guess I just blocked all the memories from my childhood after I left.”

“Yeah. Me too. Well I wasn’t bullied, but my best friend was bullied and I kind of felt like it was my fault. I didn’t know how to help, I only seemed to make things worse somehow.” Richie was lying down and looking at the ceiling. “High school was so fucking rough. That’s why I’m never having kids. I don’t want them to go through what I went through.”

Eddie didn’t respond. He had thought the same. Also he didn’t want to have a kid with Myra, because then he would never be able to leave her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'll always post two chapters together, first a flashback and then in the present.


End file.
